Molly Windle shares about her recent trip to the middle east and a moving story of how a school at one of our partner Lighthouses is using art to demonstrate the powerful life transformation happening there for refugee children.
Have you found yourself avoiding eye contact with people as you avoid physical contact? Are you finding it hard to neighbor well with the new rules in place? Here’s a resource to help. May it be that other side of this, we have become better, kinder, stronger neighbors and friends.
Erin Ahnfeldt shares about how God used his friend Scotty to remind him of the truth … we have a “Lifter of our heads” who wants us to see Him, because when we look at Him, the mess of this world won’t be so consuming.
There’s been a lot of adjustment the past few weeks. And while we cannot celebrate Easter weekend together in person, we encourage you to embrace the new. Don’t just “settle” for less, but truly dive in. Because what we are celebrating is the same, regardless of how we celebrate. And this year, if you let it, all the new might mean you experience Easter weekend in a deeper and more powerful way than ever before.
Life has been interrupted leaving us scrambling to figure out what this mean for us. God made us creative, expressive people and while technology is keeping us all connected during these unsettling days, there’s also a need to be able to express ourselves through physical exercise as well as doing some hands-on creating.
God is ready to receive whatever we are bringing to him, at any time, in whatever condition, whatever our circumstances. Nothing is too much for him; our grief, our fear, whatever it is, God’s arms are open to accept our heavy burdens. He wants us to come to him, trusting, with great expectation that He hears and cares about us.
This time of social isolation creates space for a lot of reflection and discovery. For David White, one of our elders, it has lead to a new perspective on the story in Mark about the leper who asks Jesus to heal him. The healing was about so much more than the physical restoration … it restored him to community.
In these days of social distancing and #stayathome we still need community. Connection is more important than ever before. Now is not the time to muscle through on your own. We are launching our first ever, online only, virtual small group. Would you join us?
Each year we hold our spring women’s conference the second weekend in March. This year, Janae felt we were supposed to hold it one week earlier. So we did. Now we know why. 2 days. 130 women. Worship. Art. Laughter. Tears. Story. Friendship. It was a beautiful, meaningful time together.
Whether it’s around a table or in front of a computer screen, we need to show up for each other. Go ahead and venture out in this brave new world by staying home and going online. We need each other, and we can find time and space for friendship in this stressful season of quarantine. Showing up matters now more than ever.
Sometimes we get lost in this idea of helping others in far places and lose site of who we can help in our immediate vicinity. I was ready to go wherever God wanted me to go. But, he already had me where he wanted me to be. I am now standing with people in their fear, panic, worry, and loss.
Without a doubt, this pandemic is a disruption to each of our lives. We can allow this disruption to throw us into a tailspin of fear, anxiety, lethargy, etc. or we can reframe this disruption as a bittersweet blessing. We can ask our God to use this time to bring refreshment and renewal. Here’s a great resource to help you with this.
